a toxic yellow crystalline compound used in biochemical research and industrially in the production of dyes, photographic developers, etc
In 1963 Mitchell demonstrated that dinitrophenol makes cellular membranes freelypermeable to protons by functioning as a proton ionophore.
dinitrophenol in American English
(daiˌnaitrəˈfinɔl, -nɑl)
noun
Chemistry & Pharmacology
any of the six isomers consisting of phenol where two hydrogen atoms are substituted by nitro groups, C6H4N2O5, used in dyes and wood preservatives, and in biochemistry to uncouple oxidative phosphorylation
Word origin
[1895–1900; di-1 + nitrophenol]This word is first recorded in the period 1895–1900. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Marxism, apothecaries' measure, backwind, frame of reference, slapstickdi- is a prefix occurring in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “two,” “twice,” “double”(diphthong). On this model, di- is freely used in the formation of compound words (dicotyledon; dipolar) and in chemical terms (diatomic; disulfide)
Examples of 'dinitrophenol' in a sentence
dinitrophenol
Officials told of suspicions the pills - full name dinitrophenol and linked to 60 deaths - were 'circulating on campus'.